WWE Co-Presidents FIRED In Huge Corporate Shakeup
George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have left the building.
It was all change in Stamford last night, with WWE announcing the departure of long-serving board members and executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson.
WWE's official release stated that the duo had departed the company "effective immediately." Barrios had served as Chief Financial Officer while Wilson was the promotion's Chief Revenue Officer.
Vince McMahon said the following:-
“I would like to thank George and Michelle for their 10+ years of service and contributions to the organization. I am grateful for all that was accomplished during their tenure, but the Board and I decided a change was necessary as we have different views on how best to achieve our strategic priorities moving forward."
Frank A. Riddick III will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer while WWE searches for Barrios and Wilson's permanent replacements.
The departed duo were Co-Presidents, and considered two of WWE's top five executives alongside Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, and Kevin Dunn. Barrios had been with the promotion since 2008 and Wilson 2009.
There's more to unpack here than this article's brevity allows. WWE's verbiage ("effective immediately," "different views on strategic priorities"), suggests they duo were sacked rather than resigning and the timing is suspect, with WWE set to release their latest set of financial results on 6 February. Both Wilson and Barrios were hugely important figures behind the scene, with George largely credited for WWE's social media success over the past few years (amongst other things), so this is big, big news.
As far as potential reasons go - and this is purely speculative - WWE had originally expected to announce $200 million in Adjusted OIBDA (their preferred profit-measurement metric) for 2019. These projections have since fallen to $190-180 million, and the number is now anticipated to sit towards the lower end of that. They'll still announce record profits, but the dip, obviously, isn't good.
We'll see what comes out in the wash with next week's financials. For now, though, WWE's boardroom is in a state of flux.